New Stern Kit - Redemption Tickets !

[Olivia_jason]

Look upon it this way... arcades are more likely to site a pin with a redemption feature. My 1957 replica took good coin onsite with its ticket feature.
When i go into an arcade if on my own, ill win some tickets and give them to the nearest kid who dont look like a little toe-rag.
Kids will play it, the amount of kids at Pinfest was unreal.. all of them loved the pinnies.
Pinball will do much much better onsite with a ticket feature.. adults will play it and give the tickets away.
Its a winner for sure, just a wierd way to go about it

i think this is pretty correct.
realistically a ticket reel wouldn't put off a seasoned pinball player, but as stated it is an odd way to go about doing this.
ruining the machine would make a few angry by drilling holes in the side, to accommodate the addon. i think they should rethink this idea they have and compromise on this feature and rectify its current state of being a good feature done half arsed to a feature that is good and done correctly.

Stern if you are looking, put it the reel in the door and include a special door with the kit. be more attractive for an arcade if they have that extra bit of resale value to their machine when its removed, as im sure most ex arcade games end up in homes, a few drill holes in a machine would kill its value by allot even with a few bungs to cover them.

[4_amusement_only]

Probably getting a bit picky here but, hopefully the actual weight of the dispenser is not considerable because then the machine is unbalanced when I comes to the art if nudging. Right side could require more effort to nudge and remembering to account for adding that extra power without triggering a tilt. 

[Extra Ball]

its fugly, but prob the cheapest, and easiest way possible. I guess its an optional extra, and not all sites will suit redemption. I doubt that we will see many sold here.

[Pintoxicated]

Call me old fashioned or whatever you like but I simply don't like the idea of redemption tickets at all let alone on a pinball machine and especially stuck onto the side of the cabinet like it was done as an after thought - oh that's right, it is an after thought. 

It looks shite.  It is targetted at kids who aren't going to understand the depth of some of Stern's rule sets.  I wouldn't let my kids spend $2 for a 3 ball game that will probably last less than a minute.  I wouldn't play it myself either just out of principle.

[swinks]

It could be as simple as the tickets could be swapped for crap at the counter or credit back on the Time Zone card which you can then reuse for more games, teenagers and adults would go for that I am sure. The pinnie could be set for a free game on match and get to certain set points or every 20 million gets you a ticket worth 20 cents credit.

Timezone could have a permanent platform for a 1 or 2 pins for kids only to entice them to play. I don't think kids would understand the rules as long as they can see the ball go around and bash it.

[pinsanity]

Personally I would forget about Timezone and teenagers. Timezone is old school and today's teenagers have the attention span of a goldfish and will be bored and move on from a pinball machine in 10 minutes to check their Iphone/update their Facebook status and will not be back to play again.

The tween market and even younger is where your new market is. Their overindulgent parents will provide the money source in order to keep them quiet for a few hours of peace.



Stern's next pinball should be a Ben-10 Alien Force pinball machine, you put a ticket dispenser on the side, some flashing RGB LED lights as a topper that regularly go off even when inactive, and enable the ability to have an attract mode that plays actual soundbytes from the cartoon to capture attention.

You site said machine in a Playcafe adventure centre where bored middle class housewives spend quite literally hours drinking mochachinos while their kids go crazy in the game room. Behind the coffee serving counter on the back wall you put rows of cheap action figures and toys all the way up to a top of the range Nintendo DS handheld (this will be the ultimate attainable prize).

Attach a neon sign with:
(COLLECT TICKETS BY PLAYING GAMES AND WIN THESE PRIZES!!!!)

The items on the back shelf can only be bought with redemption tickets - 10 tickets for a Ben 10 figure all the way up to 10,000 tickets for the Nintendo DS handheld.

The kids will nag and nag that they want that toy, and keep coming back to Mum/Dad for more money to spend to attain it, and the parent will cave in and indulge them just to keep them quiet.

This will need some good cooperation with the site manager so a decent profit share package will need to be in place - the offshoot is that the site manager may take a bit more interest in the cleanliness/functionality of the machine itself (unlike your typical pub pin).

Don't thank me Stern, just send me a cheque instead.  

[Retropin]

he neon sign alone would bring em in! 

[Pintoxicated]

Not trying to be negative but it would be cheaper for me to go and buy my kids whatever was on the redemption shelf. Kids don't want to go to the playcentres once they get to 8 or 9, it isn't cool anymore.  I have a machine at a playcentre and the people who put the most money through it are the owners who try to keep their own kids amused during the weekend or school holidays.

Anyway, I hope it is a success somewhere and pinball is the winner.

[pinsanity]

Not trying to be negative but it would be cheaper for me to go and buy my kids whatever was on the redemption shelf.

Yes, I know, but every year without fail you see people down sideshow alley at the Royal Show playing those overpriced clown/boatrace/coin toss games to win cheap novelty items that could be bought in a $2 shop and spending 10 times what the item is worth playing the game itself.

They key is to convince punters to think less about the actual value of the item itself and focus primarily on the challenge aspect instead.

[Retropin]

Im with Pinsanity on this... go to SunnyBank Plaza on the weekend, the arcade is absolute chaos!
My boy loves his DS etc... but he loves those tickets too... nothing like winning something even if we know its a piece of crap

[Olivia_jason]

Im with Pinsanity on this... go to SunnyBank Plaza on the weekend, the arcade is absolute chaos!
My boy loves his DS etc... but he loves those tickets too... nothing like winning something even if we know its a piece of crap

i spent $70 two nights ago, to walk away with $10 worth of shit from the arcades thanks to tickets, was a great night out with the missus, the place was packed. i dont care about the fact i spent $70 for a few bits of cheap crap, i did after all had a fantastic time the crap toy is a bonus, thats why its good for pinball imo. give some one that little bonus to play it. and the pinball should be more popular than the other games because at least the pinball is fun to play.

anything with a ticket machine had a person attached to it.

[pinsanity]

anything with a ticket machine had a person attached to it.

And that's why I say keep the dispenser as gaudy and prominent as possible (at least for onsite machines that are geared up as dedicated redemption locations).

From a 10 year old kids viewpoint, you put a discreet dispenser in the coin door and it stops being a redemption machine and turns back into a "plain old" pinball machine.



It is all moot anyway, since the machines they build have to be geared to appeal to that market and Stern cannot (or more likely will not) risk alienating or losing their ACDC demographic.

I am talking about getting machines back on site (non traditional sites) and making money again, not having a micro run of 200-300 machines go into homes and getting swapped/traded/sold between collectors every 12 months.

From a strictly business manufacturing standpoint, there is all the potential for growth in the former and simply no long term future for the latter.

WOZ's broad, multi-generational appeal is probably the closest we will get.

[Olivia_jason]

anything with a ticket machine had a person attached to it.

And that's why I say keep the dispenser as gaudy and prominent as possible (at least for onsite machines that are geared up as dedicated redemption locations).

From a 10 year old kids viewpoint, you put a discreet dispenser in the coin door and it stops being a redemption machine and turns back into a "plain old" pinball machine.



It is all moot anyway, since the machines they build have to be geared to appeal to that market and Stern cannot (or more likely will not) risk alienating or losing their ACDC demographic.

I am talking about getting machines back on site (non traditional sites) and making money again, not having a micro run of 200-300 machines go into homes and getting swapped/traded/sold between collectors every 12 months.

From a strictly business manufacturing standpoint, there is all the potential for growth in the former and simply no long term future for the latter.

WOZ's broad, multi-generational appeal is probably the closest we will get.

why would a dispenser in the coin door be discrete?? it would stand out like dogs balls if done correctly even more so than stuck to only one side of a pinball, thats tucked in a corner or between other machines.

i doubt the kids see the pinball boring when they throw a ball up a ramp on another redemtion game for a few tickets. this would be honestly the most entertaining redemtion machine in any arcade, go into your local arcade and see what games are redemtion games. lol, the only reason they play those other games that are very dull is because it spews out tickets, now if a fun game like pinball spewed out tickets that would be the best redemption game  in the building. hands down.

as i stated before a majority of those games in arcades arent really targeting kids, i dont know to many kids that spend $70 in a night at an arcade, there were plenty of people between 18- and 30 every time i go to the arcades which is often. there are kids games sure,

My idea of the ticket spool is mostly to attract people to it originally so people give the game a chance. as every one knows once you play pinball its addictive. its a matter of getting people to play it first and give them a reason to do it first.
and it doesnt change the demographic it actually expands it.

[pinsanity]

anything with a ticket machine had a person attached to it.

And that's why I say keep the dispenser as gaudy and prominent as possible (at least for onsite machines that are geared up as dedicated redemption locations).

From a 10 year old kids viewpoint, you put a discreet dispenser in the coin door and it stops being a redemption machine and turns back into a "plain old" pinball machine.



It is all moot anyway, since the machines they build have to be geared to appeal to that market and Stern cannot (or more likely will not) risk alienating or losing their ACDC demographic.

I am talking about getting machines back on site (non traditional sites) and making money again, not having a micro run of 200-300 machines go into homes and getting swapped/traded/sold between collectors every 12 months.

From a strictly business manufacturing standpoint, there is all the potential for growth in the former and simply no long term future for the latter.

WOZ's broad, multi-generational appeal is probably the closest we will get.

why would a dispenser in the coin door be discrete?? it would stand out like dogs balls if done correctly even more so than stuck to only one side of a pinball, thats tucked in a corner.

i doubt the kids see the pinball boring when they throw a ball up a ramp on another redemtion game for a few tickets. this would be honestly the most entertaining redemtion machine in any arcade, go into your local arcade and see what games are redemtion games. lol, the only reason they play those other games that are very dull is because it spews out tickets, now if a fun game like pinball spewed out tickets that would be the best redemption game  in the building. hands down.

I guess I was thinking more along the lines of a dispenser where the majority of the innards are inside the coin door and the machine simply spits out a ticket through a slot in the door. 

Pinball machines themselves are boring to a 10 year old:

1. Unless the theme catches their initial attention to draw them over
2. And then in order to convince them to part with their money they need to be shown that a tangible reward is possible (tickets/toy). You do this by advertising it primarily as a redemption machine (neon, an obtrusive ticket dispenser etc). Marketing it on its merits as a pinball machine isn't going to be enough to this demographic.

The focus needs to change to being a redemption first and a pinball second.

The possibility of a high score just isn't going to cut it, anymore. 

[Olivia_jason]

i doubt the targeted audience at an arcade is 10 year olds, there are games for kids thats for sure, but every time i go, its more so people between 18-30. and people in that age, eg me, are happy to part with the cash for a good night out. allot of the games there seem to suggest thats the case bar a few kids style games for family's.

but for kids not liking pinball?? well i recon 60% of the customers that play our store pinball is a woman with a ten year old, they usually both play them, the rest are 18-50 year old males

it is interesting that the kid spots the machine, and asks the mother what it is, and the mother plays a game usually saring the game with the kid, if that happens once its a good bet the same happens the next time they return to the shop. i had to put a kids step at the foot of the machine so the kids could play and stopped them climbing on the chairs. i think pinball is interesting to kids as they cant understand how it works.

it will be interesting and i really do hope this can bring more pinball into arcades.
its really not an addon that will matter to us so much other than hopefully see an increase of pinballs in arcades. due to attractiveness of a better money earner for operators. but as you say there needs to be more innovation for other demographics also. and i doubt we will see it from stern unless this JJP project puts a bee up their arse.